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Thursday, 30 October 2014

Nadine Dorries’ Imperfect Recall

[Updates, three so far, at end of post]

Earlier this week, Richmond Park MP Zac Goldsmith spoke in favour of a
right for MPs to be recalled by their constituents: he may have lost this
battle, but, in starting with 80 supporters but securing 168 votes in the
subsequent division, he may consider it a job well done in advancing his cause.
One of his fellow Tories to support his contention was (yes, it’s her again) Nadine Dorries.

Ms Dorries’ own rationale for making a contribution was her assertion that
she had been subjected to a recall effort two years ago. However, and here
we encounter a significantly sized however, there was, and is, no way to recall
an MP, and so she cannot have been. Indeed, at the time she herself told that “I can’t be de-selected” in an interview
with the Sun. Perhaps she forgot
about that.

She also gives the impression of not only conforming to
Olbermann’s Dictum (“the right exists in
a perpetual state of victimhood”), but also giving a highly selective
account of what happened at the time she went off to Australia to appear in I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here
without telling the whips’ office where she was going – but taking Tim
Montgomerie at Conservative Home into
her full confidence.

That article, it should be noted, contains the sub-heading “Nadine Dorries submitted this piece to
ConservativeHome a week ago, under embargo”. Ms Dorries behaved appallingly
towards her party, and on top of that she now protests that “I had every national newspaper against me
and not just for a day but for a month—in my study they stand waist high”.
No reliable citation of that last assertion was provided.

What she managed to forget is that the Conservative whip was
withdrawn from her, and remained withdrawn: she was instructed to “rebuild bridges” with her fellow MPs –
and constituents. The victimhood playing does
not explain her vicious attack on Labour MP Steve McCabe for not attending
the Commons often enough – while he was recovering from open heart surgery.

Also missing from her speech in the recall debate is another
line from that Sun article, which
asserted “REBEL Tory Nadine Dorries last
night vowed to use her I’m A Celebrity fame to topple PM David Cameron”.
The Ashcroft
poll that suggested 45% of Conservative voters in Mid-Bedfordshire would be
less likely to vote for her again also fails to get a mention.

Then she tells that “My
constituents did not sign that petition because they know the kind of MP that I
am”. The petition was
presented by one of those signatories, who lives in Barton-le-Clay. That
means he is one of her constituents. I’m sure Goldsmith was happy to have her
support on the day, but all that Nadine Dorries’ interventions show is that her
recall of what really happened is seriously imperfect.

And she should stop playing the victim, when the facts are not on her side.

[UPDATE1 1455 hours: so desperate is Ms Dorries to tell the world about her highly principled stand on MPs' recall that she has performed a serious breach of constituent confidentiality.

I shall refrain from saying anything more at this stage on the subject of the fragrant Nadine's fitness for office. There is, as Chief Inspector Clouseau once said, a time and a place for everything]

[UPDATE2 1715 hours: the Tweet containing the unfortunate Mr Hickling's address has now been deleted. But no-one need worry: I took a screenshot, just in case anyone were to pretend it had not been put up in the first place.

What does not appear to have been provided is an apology for the foul-up, but then, Ms Dorries, as is well-known, does not do apologies. One can only hope that Mr Hickling has been given at least a personal note of regret by his MP

[UPDATE3 October 31 1635 hours: while Ms Dorries gave the impression that her 70 plus emails were some kind of spontaneous outpouring of appreciation from her constituents, that is not quite true.

As a number of them have been in touch to tell me (that means more than one of them, thanks), the emails are the result of an initiative by campaign group 38 Degrees. The body text of their customised email to supporters is shown below.

As can be seen, the supporter clicks on the link and an email thanking the MP - in this case Ms Dorries - is automatically generated. That is the source of her "popularity".

For some reason, there is as yet no trace of the fragrant Nadine openly thanking 38 Degrees for their efforts on her behalf. I'm sure this is a merely temporary omission]

`And she should stop playing the victim, when the facts are not on her side.`

Love your blog Tim, but if I may make a minor observation - occasional italicisation of (non-quoted) bit as exemplified above comes across (to me at least) a bit tabloidy, which I think might lose some more centre-aligned readers if they interpret it as reflecting an agenda (which I don't believe it does).